This disclosure pertains generally to a method of conducting business for making and selling articles of apparel, particularly to footwear and/or handbags, with interchangeable components, and more specifically, to a method and system for purchasers to purchase a shoe or bag and subsequently purchase interchangeable components for the purchased shoe or bag. Moreover, the present disclosure describes a method for marketing and selling such articles of apparel.
Conventionally, shoes and handbags, like other consumer goods, are generally bought by purchasers as a single item purchase. Purchasers visit shopping malls or department stores where these visits are for a specific purpose (i.e. the purchaser is looking to purchase a particular item) or merely to browse until the purchaser sees something of interest to purchase. In either case, a purchase within a typical store is a one-time event. There is nothing in the sale to retain or encourage future patronage. Moreover, no purchaser information (besides credit card payment information) is recorded or saved by the store.
With the increased popularity of the World Wide Web, purchasers increasingly make purchases over the internet through a website sale. However, the full utility offered to web retailers by the internet has not been realized. Currently, purchasers visit department store websites to view and select items supplied by numerous manufacturers. This allows purchasers to compare and contrast similar items before ultimately selecting the desired item. Alternatively, purchasers visit the website of a specific manufacturer to order a specific item. In most cases, payments for purchases are made using a consumer credit card. As an added feature, a website frequently allows a purchaser to create a user account whereby credit card and order history information is stored for later use by the store. However, order information is not available to purchasers in an interactive format allowing purchasers to mix and match the articles purchased.
Thus, there is a long-felt need for a method of conducting business for making and marketing an interchangeable shoe or handbag which prompts purchasers to continue to make subsequent purchases and to modify the initial purchase using an interactive computer interface. Furthermore, there is a need to provide purchasers with a real or virtual method to purchase apparel comprised of interchangeable components. There is a long felt need to provide purchasers with the ability to become his or her own fashion designer through the use of interchangeable components found on the shoe or handbag. One example of a shoe having interchangeable components is found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/307,460 to Scozzafava, which is hereby being incorporated by reference.